Comedian Bill Maher ribbed “woke” people for taking offense to Halloween costumes in Friday night’s “New Rule” segment of “Real Time.”
What did he say? Maher kicked off the segment pointing to what he calls a liberal “trap” when it comes to Halloween.
“Now, I personally don’t care if you go trick or treating dressed as .01 percent of Elizabeth Warren,” Maher joked, pointing to Warren’s recent DNA test. “But the office of Scolding Social Justice Warriors has decreed no hula girls, no Indian chiefs, no southern belles, no Daniel Boone, no geishas, ninjas, gypsies, mobsters, terrorists.”
He continued, “No Cleopatra. Pirates offend one-eyed people. You can’t dress as a hobo because it makes light of the homeless, [and] you can’t dress as Quasimodo because it offends hunchbacks. You can’t dress as an escaped mental patient, because it offends Kanye [West].”
The comedian and late-night show host pointed to outrage over the recent “ sexy ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ ” costume that costume vendors and retailers yanked from shelves because people were outraged by “the ironic take of a character that doesn’t exist, from a fictional world that never happened.”
“Not everything that merely alludes to another culture is racist or cultural appropriation,” Maher insisted. “Halloween was always fun because it wasn’t [politically correct]. Not being PC was almost the whole point of the holiday, but now everything has to be turned into a federal case of snowflakes versus humor.”
Maher went on to point to a recent study that revealed 80 percent of Americans were completely turned off by PC culture.
“The majority of America is with the Democrats on the issues, they just find the woke people irritating as hell,” Maher said. “Nobody likes you, including the so-called ‘marginalized groups’ whose feelings you decide need protecting … When did liberals become the fun police? Does anybody remember when conservatives were the ones with sticks up their a****? We went from ‘Yes We Can!’ to ‘Oh, No You Didn’t!’”

19 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Have Clubbed Thumbs

Your thumbs are the perfect size for babies to hold on to 1. Texting is hard and nearly IMPOSSIBLE without autocorrect. MEG ☆ @itssmeg forever sending “cc” or “zz” instead of “xx” #toethumbproblems
06:54 AM – 03 Sep 2013 Reply Retweet Favorite 2. You’ve definitely said, “I have the same thumbs as Megan Fox!” Chung Sung-jun / Getty Images We stan our *~Klubbed Thumb Kween~*.
3. Gloves NEVER fit right. Danielle @Danielle_Downs_ #clubbedthumbproblems
06:16 AM – 06 Mar 2015 Reply Retweet Favorite 4. It’s exponentially harder to play musical instruments. Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF ebaumsworld.com 5. The same goes for throwing balls and playing #sportz. Chung Sung-jun / Getty Images
Classic Megan.
6. With your kind of thumbs being called everything from “the Royal Thumb” to “the Murderer’s Thumb,” you’re having quite the identity crisis. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com
*cries in thumb*
7. You’ve found communities online with other similiarly-phalanged folk. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com The Facebook group Clubbed Thumbs Unite! has given all of us the solace we need.
8. You’ve definitely “liked” something by accident. Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF E! 9. Your lil’ nuggets have given you a good sense of humor. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 10. People constantly ask to see your thumbs… View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 11. …and subsequently just *need* to do a comparison. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 12. You always feel a little thumb-conscious Instagramming pics of you holding something. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 13. Nail polish isn’t exactly ~complimentary~ to your nail shape. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 14. But at least your thumbs are the perfect size for babies to hold on to tumblr.com 15. You always get excited when you meet another member of the Clubbed Thumb Club™ View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 16. You’ve been asked if you jammed your thumb into something when you were younger. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 17. And fake nails don’t really work for you. Emily @emileficent I got acrylic nails today and they had to use toe ones for my thumbs #clubbedthumbproblems
02:48 PM – 23 Jul 2015 Reply Retweet Favorite 18. But at the end of the day, you know your clubbed thumbs are just an extra sprinkle of uniqueness that’s been thrust upon you. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com 19. And for that, you are grateful. View this photo on Instagram instagram.com Top trending videos Facebook Twitter Copy Copy link Watch more BuzzFeed Video Caret right Top trending videos Watch more BuzzFeed Video Caret right Watch more BuzzFeed Video Caret right Top trending videos Facebook Share Twitter Tweet Copy Copy link Watch more BuzzFeed Video Caret right

‘Wonderful People, Good Souls’: The Victims Of The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting : NPR

Enlarge this image People pay their respects outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The 11 people who were killed on Saturday ranged in age from 54 to 97. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images People pay their respects outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The 11 people who were killed on Saturday ranged in age from 54 to 97.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Updated at 4:03 p.m. ET
Eleven people were killed on Saturday when a gunman entered Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue and opened fire on the congregants. The victims ranged in age from 54 to 97; eight were men, three were women. Two of them were brothers, and two were a married couple.
Chuck Diamond was a rabbi at Tree of Life until about a year ago, and he remains a member of the community, living just around the corner from the synagogue. He knew many of the victims.
“These are wonderful people, good souls, who were just coming to synagogue as they usually did,” he told NPR on Sunday. “Synagogue was just getting started and mostly elderly people who come there are there at the beginning, and you could count on them every week for coming. … It’s such a crime that their lives were taken from us.”
National Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Victims Identified But he said the city’s residents are coming together to support one another after the tragedy. “Pittsburgh,” he said, “is a wonderful community. It’s not only a wonderful Jewish community, it’s just a wonderful community.”
The names of the victims were released on Sunday morning by the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner. Here are some of their stories, updated as we learn them.
Rose Mallinger , 97, of Squirrel Hill, was the oldest of the victims.
Diamond told NPR that Rose “was in her 90s, but she was one of the younger ones among us, I have to tell you, in terms of her spirit. Rose was wonderful.”
Daniel Stein , 71, lived in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He is the former president of the New Light Congregation, a Conservative synagogue that held services at Tree of Life.
He was remembered for his kindness.
“He was always willing to help anybody,” his nephew, Steven Halle, told TribLIVE, formerly The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . “He was somebody that everybody liked, very dry sense of humor and recently had a grandson who loved him.”
National Suspect Charged With 29 Federal Counts In Pittsburgh Synagogue Massacre Melvin Wax , 88, also of Squirrel Hill, was remembered as a pillar of the New Light Congregation.
“He was such a kind, kind person,” his friend and fellow congregant, Myron Snider, told the Associated Press. “When my daughters were younger, they would go to him, and he would help them with their federal income tax every year. Never charged them.”
“He and I used to, at the end of services, try to tell a joke or two to each other. Most of the time they were clean jokes. Most of the time. I won’t say all the time. But most of the time.”
Snider said Wax was a bit hard of hearing and unfailingly attended Friday, Saturday and Sunday services, filling in at nearly every role if someone didn’t show up.
“Just a sweet, sweet guy,” he said.
Jerry Rabinowitz , 66, of Edgewood Borough, was a family doctor.
He practiced in a “small, cozy office in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood,” TribLIVE reporter Ben Schmitt wrote in a personal remembrance. Rabinowitz was his father’s doctor, and his own.
Enlarge this image Jerry Rabinowitz in 2013. Courtesy of the family hide caption
toggle caption Courtesy of the family Jerry Rabinowitz in 2013.
Courtesy of the family Schmitt recalled how his father became ill on a trip to India and called Rabinowitz in Pittsburgh for advice. The doctor called his father every day for the rest of his trip to check in on his health.
“I felt like I was in such competent, caring hands,” Schmitt’s father said. “Such a kind and gentle man.”
Rabinowitz also was the personal physician to former Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Lawrence Claus, who released a statement on Sunday remembering him.
“Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz … was truly a trusted confidant and healer who could always be counted upon to provide sage advice whenever he was consulted on medical matters, usually providing that advice with a touch of genuine humor,” said Claus, according to CBS affiliate KDKA. “He had a truly uplifting demeanor, and as a practicing physician he was among the very best.”
Cecil Rosenthal , 59, and David Rosenthal , 54, were brothers who shared an apartment in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
Raye Coffey, a close friend and former neighbor of the Rosenthals’ parents, told TribLIVE that the Rosenthals spent a lot of time in her house when they were younger. She said the brothers faced mental challenges and were fixtures at Tree of Life, where Cecil was a greeter.
“Cecil was always a big brother. He was very warm and very loving. Whenever he would see us, he would always say, ‘Hi, Coffeys!’ “
“David was quieter,” she said. “But both were … to die like this is horrendous.”
ACHIEVA, an organization that works with people with disabilities, said that the brothers were well-respected members of its community. Chris Schopf, who runs the group’s residential programs, said the brothers never missed a Saturday at Tree of Life.
“If they were here they would tell you that is where they were supposed to be,” Schopf said in a statement . “Cecil’s laugh was infectious. David was so kind and had such a gentle spirit. Together, they looked out for one another. They were inseparable. Most of all, they were kind, good people with a strong faith and respect for everyone around.”
Cecil and David Rosenthal will be remembered as the thoughtful, caring people they were, bringing love and laughter to those around them. https://t.co/fdzXqfM7It pic.twitter.com/vnq1tcPPQ2
— ACHIEVA (@ACHIEVA) October 28, 2018 Bernice Simon , 84, and Sylvan Simon , 86, of Wilkinsburg were remembered by neighbors as sweet, kind and generous.
They were married at Tree of Life in December 1956, according to TribLIVE.
“A loving couple and they’ve been together forever,” longtime friend and neighbor Michael Stepaniak told the news site. “I hope they didn’t suffer much and I miss them terribly.”
Joyce Fienberg , 75, lived in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood and grew up in Toronto. She had two sons and was remembered as a proud grandmother.
“[She was] the most amazing and giving person,” her brother, Bob Libman, told the CBC.
Fienberg was a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center for more than 25 years.
In a statement on Sunday, the center called her “a cherished friend” and “an engaging, elegant, and warm person.”
Gaea Leinhardt, professor emerita at Pitt, called Fienberg her best friend and told The Washington Post that she had a way of putting teachers at ease when she visited their classrooms.
“She was very intellectual,” Leinhardt said. “But also people would just always open up to her in a very easy way. She was an ideal observer.”
Her husband, internationally celebrated statistician Stephen Fienberg, died in 2016 .
Leinhardt told The Post that Fienberg had been especially involved at Tree of Life since her husband’s death. “I just can’t say how terribly sad I am that this person isn’t in the world anymore.”
Richard Gottfried , 65, of Ross Township, shared a dentistry practice with his wife.
The two met as dental students at the University of Pittsburgh, The Post reports, and they volunteered with Catholic Charities’ dental clinic. He was said to be an avid runner and had been going to services at Tree of Life more often recently.
Irving Younger , 69, ran a real estate business in Squirrel Hill for many years and was also a youth football and baseball coach.
Tina Prizner, who lived next door to Younger in the Mt. Washington neighborhood, remembered him as “the most wonderful dad and grandpa” and as a devoted member of his congregation.
“He went every day. He was an usher at his synagogue, and he never missed a day,” she told TribLIVE. “He was a beautiful person, a beautiful soul.”
NPR’s Cameron Jenkins contributed to this report.